Live breaking news: Australia's COVID vaccine rollout truth to be revealed; Qld weather warning: Heavy rain, flooding forecast; Sydney Opera House evacuated over gas leak - NEWS.com.au

On Friday, a Melbourne man who had received the COVID-19 vaccine was admitted to hospital after falling ill with a rare blood clotting condition.

Despite AstraZeneca saying “no safety concerns relating to the vaccine have been identified”, Epidemiologist Catherine Bennett said Australian authorities were now beginning to believe there may be a link, though it is still unclear what the link may be.

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Authorities are still scrambling to find the link between the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine and a higher risk of blood clots, with one expert labelling the lack of understanding a "concern".

On Friday, a Melbourne man who had received the COVID-19 vaccine was admitted to hospital after falling ill with a rare blood clotting condition.

It comes after multiple European countries suspended the rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine last month over blood clot fears.

Despite AstraZeneca saying "no safety concerns relating to the vaccine have been identified", Epidemiologist Catherine Bennett said Australian authorities were now beginning to believe there may be a link.

Picture: Loic Venance/AFP

"I think they are now conceding it is likely to be induced by the vaccine, they just don’t understand how and it is so rare that it is hard to understand who is at risk," she told 2GB.

Professor Bennett said the fact officials still don't know what the link could be is a "concern".

"It’s a concern because they don’t actually know how the vaccine could be causing it. They don’t have that causal understanding to even say ‘Well, that means there is a certain group who are going to be at a higher risk'," she said.

"They do know it’s not the typical people you might expect to be at risk of blood clotting, people with a history of blood clotting or older people.

"They are seeing it in younger people but equally, that’s partly because we have given AstraZeneca to the younger population."

Queensland has recorded no new cases of local COVID-19 transmission, with the state confirming just four new cases from returned travellers in hotel quarantine.

Deputy Premier Steven Miles said this was "fantastic news".

"It underlines how it is better to have to lockdown for three days than for three months," he said.

Of the returned travellers, one had spent time in Papua New Guinea, two had come from Lebanon and one had arrived from India.

Monday 5 April – coronavirus cases in Queensland:
• 0 new locally acquired
• 4 overseas acquired
• 75 active cases
• 1,492 total cases
• 2,313,088 tests conducted
Sadly, six Queenslanders with COVID-19 have died. 1,353 patients have recovered.#covid19 pic.twitter.com/eWFmckxJqw
— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) April 5, 2021

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Paracetamol medications including Panadol are no more effective than a placebo for the most common illnesses or injuries, a medical review of the drug has revealed.

The most ineffective use of paracetamol is when it is taken for back pain, University of Sydney researchers have concluded in a review for the Medical Journal of Australia.

Researchers conducted systematic reviews that compared evidence of the analgesic effects of paracetamol with placebo (saline solution or sterile water) in treating almost 50 common pain conditions.

It was discovered only knee and hip osteoarthritis, craniotomy, tension headache and perineal pain after childbirth were receptive to the drug.

“While paracetamol is widely used, its efficacy in relieving pain has been established for only a handful of conditions, and its benefits are often modest,” the review found.

“High or moderate quality evidence that paracetamol (typically 0.5–1g, single or multiple doses) is superior to placebo for relieving pain was available for only four of 44 painful conditions examined.”

– Additional reporting NCA NewsWire

Australia is falling behind in the race with China to deliver COVID vaccines to Pacific Island nations, with experts warning losing to Beijing would be a "significant blow" to Aussies.

If the Morrison government is unable to secure millions of vaccine doses for our Pacific Island neighbours within the next few weeks, there are fears it could lead to China gaining an even stronger foothold in the region.

Last month Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced Australia would be sending more than 8000 AstraZeneca vaccines to Papua New Guinea to help the nation's worsening COVID-19 crisis.

He also said he would ask one million doses of the shots coming to Australia from Europe to be sent to PNG instead, however, this is yet to happen.

Picture: Sam Mooy/Getty Images

Now, PNG has accepted 200,000 Chinese Sinopharm jabs, with Fiji also saying it will accept the vaccines when it is approved by the World Health Organisation.

Lowy Institute Pacific program director Jonathan Pryne told The Australian we were now racing against China to supply vaccines to the Pacific.

"It will be a significant blow to Australia, just as we are stepping up our effort in the Pacific, for China to take the lead in a vaccine rollout, and in turn economic recovery, in the Pacific," he said.

“Should the WHO approve the (Chinese) vaccines, Pacific nations would be absolutely within their rights to take whatever is offered and readily available. Australia would have no moral authority to stop them."

Egypt’s first female captain was blamed by trolls for blocking the Suez Canal – despite being on a different boat hundreds of kilometres away.

Marwa Elselehdar was working as a first mate in command of the Aida IV in Alexandria when the Ever Given became wedged in the canal, bringing the major shipping route to a halt.

But online rumours and fake news headlines spread the falsehood that she had caused the container ship to run aground in Suez.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CL9TtZYhzEu

Rumours about her role on the Ever Given were largely spurred by screenshots of a fake news headline – supposedly published by Arab News – which said she was involved in the Suez incident.

The doctored image appears to be from a genuine Arab News story, released on 22 March, which profiles Marwa’s success as Egypt’s first female ship captain. The picture has been shared dozens of times on Twitter and Facebook.

– Liam Coleman

An investigation is underway after the body of a woman was discovered inside a charity donation bin outside a Gold Coast shopping centre.

Police were called to Stockland shopping centre at Burleigh shortly after 7.30am today after a member of the public made the gruesome discovery.

The person found the body of a woman, believed to be in her 30s, when they went to drop of their donation outside the shopping centre, according to The Courier Mail.

A crime scene has been established and investigators are working to determine the identity of the woman.

Picture: Glenn Hampson

Pope Francis has called a resurgence of military violence “scandalous” as he delivered his Easter address to the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics.

He urged people to remain hopeful in his Easter Sunday address, calling vaccines an “essential tool” in ending the pandemic and urging their swift rollout to the world’s poorest countries.

On the holiest holiday for Christians and the second under the shadow of the coronavirus crisis, the Pope focused his message on the world’s most vulnerable — the sick and migrants.

He also spoke about people facing economic hardship and those living in war zones like Syria, Yemen and Libya.

Picture: Filippo Monteforte/AFP

The pandemic is still spreading, while the social and economic crisis remains severe, especially for the poor,” the 84-year-old Argentine said, speaking to a congregation of only around 100 people inside the vast St. Peter’s Basilica.

“Vaccines are an essential tool in this fight,” he said, calling on the international community to overcome delays in distributing vaccines “especially in the poorest countries”.

The Pope also said it was “scandalous” that armed conflicts around the world had not ceased.

He called for an end to the war in Syria, “where millions of people are presently living in inhumane conditions”, and in Yemen “whose situation has met with a deafening and scandalous silence”.

– AFP

A wild hoon event being held at a Gold Coast Bunnings over the weekend quickly turned dangerous after fireworks were thrown at police and a camera man was allegedly assaulted.

Police have lashed the horrific behaviour of motorists who attended large scale gatherings at Pimpama, Yatala and Molendinar on Saturday night.

Police were attended the carpark at Pimpama Bunnings at around 10pm where approximately 600 vehicles and 1000 people had gathered.

Projectiles, including fireworks, where thrown at police with three police vehicles sustaining minor damage.
The vehicles dispersed before many re-formed in the industrial area around Export Drive, Molendinar, where an unmarked police vehicle sustained moderate damage after more projectiles were thrown.

“This behaviour is outrageous, clearly dangerous and will not be tolerated on our streets and in our suburbs. We are determined to locate as many vehicles and people involved in these overnight disturbances and dangerous driving incidents and they can expect to feel the full force of the law," Acting Chief Superintendent Geoff Sheldon said.

A man filming the vehicles, believed to be a 9News cameraman, was allegedly assaulted near a Coomera shopping centre, resulting in police issuing a Notice to Appear in court on April 23 to a 20-year-old Coomera man in relation to the incident.

Just after midnight police attended a single vehicle crash on Ashmore Road, Molendinar, believed to involve a vehicle that was part of one of the gatherings.

The driver, a 17-year-old male, was transported to Gold Coast University Hospital with serious injuries. Two passengers were treated for minor injuries.

More than 20 infringement notices were issued and investigations into the hoon events are continuing.

Eight people have been treated for “significant burns” after a horror boat explosion on Easter Sunday in New South Wales.

The boat exploded at Brooklyn on the Hawkesbury River north of Sydney just after 5pm.

Firefighters arrived quickly to the scene at Dangar Road and discovered there was a small boat “totally involved“ in flames.

Two people are fighting for life and in a critical condition.

Another four are in a serious condition, while two escaped with minor injuries, a NSW Ambulance spokesman said.

The boat has now sunk.

– Additional reporting NCA NewsWire

An evolving crisis on the Russia-Ukraine border has Europe on high alert, with a defence watcher warning the situation could descend into a “world war” within weeks if tensions aren’t stemmed.

Russian officials have been quick to downplay footage of tanks, artillery and as many as 4000 troops mobilising on the disputed border, which has been under the microscope since 2014 when Russia invaded the Crimea region which is internationally recognised as being part of Ukraine.

Day 3: #Russia Military build up continues near Ukraine border.
Video of military vehicles, tanks today reportedly from city of Karsnodar: pic.twitter.com/ItgkKyI1jo
— Joyce Karam (@Joyce_Karam) April 2, 2021

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President Vladimir Putin authorised military force which saw Moscow seize Crimea as well as parts of the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine.

All of these action were preceded by Russian troop build up on the border.

Worryingly, recent footage has emerged of the Russian military again setting up shop in the regions of Voronezh, Rostov and Krasnodar, on Ukraine’s eastern border.

“The crisis has the potential to escalate into a pan-European war, if not even a world one,” defence analyst Pavel Felgenhauer told the Rosbalt news organisation in Russia.

“For now, (just) potential. Will it happen or not? Let’s wait and see. In the West, they don’t know what to do about it.”

– Alex Blair